Frankfurt

Things are much more interesting when they don't go as planned.

Setting out!

So, tomorrow, at some ridiculous hour before dawn, Kristin and I are getting a ride down to Sea-Tac airport. We fly from Sea-Tac, stop in Philadelphia, and arrive in Munich. From Munich, we go by train to Frankfurt; from Frankfurt to Lucerne; from Lucerne, through Milan, to Naples; Naples to Rome; and finally, Rome, from though Venice, to Berlin.

I am not sure how much access I will have to the internet over the next two weeks, but I will be sure to update by the time I arrive in Berlin.

Wish me luck!

Different religious education programs in different schools:

Article on Kreuzberg: http://www.sozialestadt.de/en/veroeffentlichungen/zwischenbilanz/2-berlin-english.shtml
Articles on Schools and Migration:
http://www.migrationonline.cz/e-library/?x=1963791
http://www.interculturemap.org/en/education/case_study_education.php?case_study_id=84

Also, I looked up a couple of different school in Berlin and their religious education programs.

Aziz Nesin - Grundschule
Staatliche Europaschule Berlin (SESB)

33. Grundschule — Kreuzberg

Urbanstraße 1510961

BerlinTel.: 90298 3731

Fax: 90298 3735

email: info@aziz-nesin-g.cidsnet.de

http://www.aziz-nesin-g.cidsnet.de/image/schulprogramm.pdf
Look under "Feste"



John F. Kennedy School
Teltower Damm 87–93
14167 Berlin (Zehlendorf)
Parent handbook page:
http://www.jfks.de/index.php?id=74&no_cache=1&sword_list[]=religious
Religious education section:
"An optional religious instruction class is offered to both English and German mother tongue children. Parents and their children can choose from enrolling in either a Protestant, Catholic or Jewish religion class. The class is taught two times each week and is integrated into the regular weekly school schedule. The religion class is organized and paid for by various organized religious institutions in Berlin. Parents are required to register their children into these classes by written form which is handed out by homeroom teachers at the beginning of the school year. Children from Grade 1 through 8 will remain enrolled in the class registered, until written notice has been received from the parents, to proceed otherwise. Children who do not participate in a religion class will be enrolled in a “Religion-Rest” class, which is a study hall under teacher supervision.

The religion class emphasizes moral and ethical principles within a given specific religious context and interpretation. Learning sources may include art projects, the singing of traditional songs, preparation and celebration of religious holidays and the teaching of selected Bible narratives. Themes such as social responsibility, family, tolerance verses discrimination are also emphasized."

Islamischen Grundschule
Boppstr. 4
10967 Berlin
Tel. 030 - 69 50 78 60
Fax 030 - 69 50 78 61
E-Mail: igs.berlin@t-online.de

http://www.islamische-grundschule.de/
Islamischer Religionsunterricht
"Die Ziele des Religionsunterrichts sind:

1. Erwerb von religiösem Grundwissen

2. Dialogfähigkeit mit Andersdenkenden

Die Lerninhalte bauen aufeinander auf und erfahren in den einzelnen Klassenstufen eine Erweiterung und Vertiefung:

Klasse 1:Allah (t) und ich, Erlernen und Einüben des rituellen Gebets und der Bittgebete
Klasse 2:Der Islam, unser Glaube, die fünf "Säulen" und die sechs Glaubensgrund-sätze, Arabische Alphabetisierung
Klasse 3:Die Biographie Muhammeds, Regeln der Koranrezitation
Klasse4:Allahs Schöpfung
Klasse5:Koran und Sunna, die Quellen des Islam

Klasse 6:Muslime in der Welt, Besuch islamischer Institutionen, Ich und mein Glaube

Der islamische Religionsunterricht beinhaltet Lernziele, bei denen Konsens in den Rechtsschulen besteht und sie können so von allen Muslimen akzeptiert werden."

Sprache:

Deutsch als Zweitsprache (DaZ) Alle Schüler erhalten in den Klassen 1 bis 3 eine besondere Sprachförderung. Sechs bis höchstens zehn Schüler einer Klasse werden zusätzlich 2 Std. die Woche sprachlich gefördert. Im DaZ-Unterricht lernen die Schüler viele neue Begriffe kennen. Sie lernen, die Artikel, Pronomen und Präpositionen richtig zu gebrauchen und üben sich in der Satzbildung. Dies geschieht überwiegend mündlich und spielerisch, damit die Schüler gute Deutschkenntnisse erwerben. Arabischunterricht Die Erteilung des Arabisch-unterrichts fing mit der Gründung der Islamischen Grundschule 1989 als ein Teil des Religions-unterrichts an. 1996 wurde der Unterricht ‚’Arabisch für Muttersprachler’‚ eingeführt. Dieser Unterricht ist auf freiwilliger Basis und wird in allen 6 Klassen angeboten. In jeder Klasse wird 2 Stunden wöchentlich Arabischunterricht erteilt. Das Ziel dieses Unterrichts ist, dass die Schüler mit arabischer Muttersprache nach 6 Jahren in der Lage sind, arabische Sätze und Texte zu lesen und zu verstehen. Sie erhalten Kenntnis über einfache grammatikalische Regeln und wenden diese in Gesprächen an. Viele Übungen zur Beherrschung der Sprache werden durchgeführt, auch Schreibübungen

Türkischunterricht An der Islamischen Grundschule wurde von Anfang an Türkischunterricht angeboten. Die Teilnahme am Türkischunterricht ist freiwillig, die Eltern entscheiden über die Teilnahme ihres Kindes. In den Klassen 1 bis 6 wird 2 Stunden pro Woche Türkischunterricht erteilt. Die Leistungen der Schüler und Schülerinnen werden auf den Zeugnissen verbal benotet. Die Ziele des Türkischunterrichts sind: Die türkischen Schüler und Schülerinnen sollen das türkische Alphabet, Wort und Satzaufbau sowie die Grammatik der türkischen Sprache erlernen. Sie sollen lernen, ihre Meinung auf türkisch zu äußern und sich grammatikalisch richtig in ihrer Muttersprache zu unterhalten.

Citizenship and Soccer

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3405628,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3439394,00.html

Research Proposal

Researching religion in the school system

Research question:

Integration has been a highly debated problem in Europe, especially with regard to Islamic immigrants. The teaching of Islam in public schools has been a particularly poignant issue as it touches on the other issues of religion, promoting tolerance, equal opportunity, and education. What do the students, their parents and various religious organizations in Berlin think about the way in which religion is taught in the public schools of Berlin and what, if anything, do they think needs to be changed, particularly concerning Islamic education?

Research methods:

Interviews with leaders/prominent figures/spokesmen of local religious groups.

Interviews with religious education teachers (if possible)

Interviews with students

Case studies with immigrant families

Interviews with policy drafters (if possible)

I have already sent out emails to various religious organizations in Berlin and have received answers from a couple.

http://www.islamische-foederation.de/
http://www.jg-berlin.org/site/01e_about/01_0start.htm
http://www.all-saints-berlin.de/index.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1526501,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1506557,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1171302,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3336570,00.html

So, this week's compositions were varied. I really liked the art group's use of levels and surprise entrance. Kristin slowly rising as everyone else stood still was very interesting. I felt, however, that our composition was a bit of a disappointment.

I thought that drinking the blood of the Turkish was an obvious metaphor and that only partially burying "the dead" was also fairly blatantly conveyed. And that the vampire, as a figment of imagination, or flight of fancy, was a really good symbol for the forced integration: no one seems to think it is a "monster." I guess we just failed to make that clear.

Maybe next time we should chose something simpler.

Jugend und Religion

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/episode/0,2144,3236744,00.html

Gegen die Wand

I saw the movie for class last year. While I appreciated the insight into the Turkish German culture, I really was not fond of the movie over all. In all fairness, when I went to see it at the German film night last year, everyone had been raving about how wonderful of a movie it was and I went in expecting something a little bit more....happy, I guess. I felt really bad for Cahit throughout the entire movie.

As far as themes? Self-destruction. The inability to escape one's failures. Addiction. Other happy stuff.

More information on religious education in Germany

http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2006/71382.htm

http://www.euro-islam.info/spip/article.php3?id_article=299

http://www.islamische-foederation.de/

Ballet

So I just realized I never blogged about the ballet. I suppose "better late than never" comes into play here. Anyways, here it goes.

I really enjoyed the performance. I never inherited any of the coordination or balance to dance well, so I admire anyone who can. I particularly liked the way exaggerated movements of the shoulders, neck and head were used to convey emotion, where (I think) tone of voice would have been used in the play.

At the risk of incurring the disapproval of my undoubtedly more fashionable classmates, I must say that I quite liked the costumes. They were bright and colourful and entirely fitting for an adaptation of a play in which the characters are also quite colourful. I especially liked the use of similar colours and similar styles to emphasize association between the characters.

BBC archive results..and some Deutsche Welle

BBC results on the search "Berlin headscarves schools":

November 11, 2003
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/3261147.stm
Note: "The ban will not apply in religious education classes, and Christian and Jewish symbols will not be banned."
March 29, 2008
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6506889.stm

Also Deutsche Welle had a ton of articles. When I have finished with my homework actually due tomorrow, I shall look through them more thoroughly. Until then:
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1047227,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,978888,00.html
http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1152539_page_2,00.html
That last one has a quote from an Islamic Studies lecturer at Humboldt.

Topic

In order, my three areas of interest are:
Immigration and Migration
Youth Culture
Memorials

In specific, I would like to explore the competition between the Abrahamic traditions for representation in the public education system, contrasting the classes for younger grades with those for high school.

Ghosts and landmarks of Seattle

The stretch of Second Avenue between Virginia and Stewart is full of what short history Seattle boasts. The Moore Theatre downtown is the oldest theatre in Seattle; it celebrated its centennial last year. The theatre was, according to their website, partly responsible for the establishment of Second Avenue as the center of Seattle's Theatre district. Its architecture and decor (plain outside and lavish, almost baroque inside) was heralded as magnificent and offers insight as to the the trend of theatre building at the turn of last century.

My encounters with the Moore are infrequent; I show up annually. My high school puts on its spring musical at the Moore every year and a great number of my friends were either crew or musicians. They would tell stories of sneaking down into what used to be the speak-easy in the basement or finding a long forgotten program decades older than they in some back closet. One of my friends was shocked to discover that the explanation for the back staircase (which has a ridiculously creepy looking exit) to the balcony was that of segregation policies.

Incidentally, the building next door, the Josephinum, is also quite old, as far as Seattle goes, and is the only place left in Seattle where the Latin Mass is celebrated.

Seattle, in comparison to Berlin, is a very young city. Any "ghosts" we have are of the recently deceased. Our city is still populated with the soon-to-be-gone, what one might call the dying.

The First Class

So far, I have put off writing a response to last Thursday's class in the hopes of divine inspiration. Alas, no luck. But it is now Wednesday afternoon, so I had best type this up.

Drama, in general, has always been one of those forms of art of which I have a very shallow understanding but am quite curious about, so it was enjoyable to read the Viewpoints book. A lot of it required consulting earlier chapters to understand, but I related really well to the idea of jo-ha-kyu within music. The practice exercise was also enjoyable; not only did it give us the opportunity to fumblingly put what we learned into practice, it acted as an icebreaker for the group.

I thought it interesting how many of the students sought to convey a progression or growth of some sort, rather than a specific moment in time or space.

Hello, world!

Well, let's hope this works.

So far the plan is this: Kristin and I depart on the 7th of August and wander the continent until the program starts. After the program, we spend a couple more days in Munich and then go home on the 22nd of September.